Mexico weekly ledger., 1887-08-18

We speak Of p~enman>h'p not as u
fine art. hui as a branch NJ ~e,utatinR
which materially Affects every child,
whether destined 10 become u profess
iuual man. mechanic. az iahorer,
Every one should have q good. plain
handwriting. and should obtain il in
the public schools.
This is a purely gymnastic exercise.
and should he acquired by the greatest
precision and accuracy. The simple
thing Ia he accomplished is the
making of a perfectly smooth line by
both nilrs of the pen. Sccare an erect,
easy position; both feet squarely
planted on the floor; knees al
a little more than right angles forearm
on the table; elbow never drawn back
Of a right angle. Slide On the nail Of
third finger: let the pen rest in the
thumb and first two fingers, Give a
great many simple exercises III move
meut. Thorough work in position and
movement. holding the pupils to the
same i'll all their writing, VIII give
each child an excellent handwriting.
The average student in the high
school cannot write more than ten
words per minute. while. after proper
training, he will easily reach fifteen,
This makes u difference of forty
minutes in two hours writing. The
hand writing reacts upon the mind
and usually indicates the mind.
The three essentials tn a good hand
writing are legibility, ease. and
rapidly. The best business writers
are those who have studied some sys-
tenn thoroughly until they ean write an
accurate copy. afterwards modifying
this to admit of rapidity.
A child who is old enough 10 20 to
school can be taught To keep his feet
fiat upon the floor. This should he
insisted upon, for if the feet are out oil
| position the whole body will bt
| affected. If they are thrown hack
under the seat too much weight will
be put upon the arms. and they will lie
thrown out upon the desk too far, inter.
fering with the movements of the hand
and the slant of the letters; if thrown
too far forward the body must bt
thrown back to balance. and very soor
the pupil is in a sloyenlr position. Tn,
body should be straight and slightly
inclined forward, but not to bring any
great weight upon the arms. Til,
arms should be thrown out from til,
body nearly to The corners of thu
ordinary schuol-desk. hut never beyond
This will bring the ewes within from
thirteen To fifteen inches of TIE paper
the right distance. Tie paper, o
book. should be placed on the desl
ut an angle OF forty degrees; then. b,
simply swinging the hands toward tin
| IoI,- -, ~, a.. IL -tr,l-,. x,ll Ia,
fifty-two degrees.
If a child at six writes with Il short
blunt pencil on a slate he will max,
very poor letters. the hand will be il
a bunch, and the foreiinger viii describ
one side Of II pyramid. He will con
tract a habit that vii, require year
of patient, hard WORK to overcome
This is nothing but Il bad habit con
tracted by the use of Il little slate
pencil at the beginning of his career
but he will always think it natural. |
he had been given a long. sharp pencil
with IA good slate. ruled 10 Indicate tn
height of every letter, and taught t
point the pencil over the shoulder, a
ways taking position described above
he would have formed II habit while
would have given him Il good hand
writing.
:, In the second year use lead pencils
choosing those taat are neither to
hard O too soft.
:. One very important tl:in:- aimed s
is to carry a light hand. II Il large
broad-pointed pen be neesi this cann'
be done; if 4 very iii:e one be used
will s0on wear out, 81 we take IL
middle ground Il use a pen
medium point and fiexibility. In
, should be jet black and flow freel,
1.-The pen is mightier than the sword,
and the teacher who would attempt t
assist in having it skillfully wielde
must exercise care, have patience, an
persevere, remembering especial
hat He who is faithful in that whic
is least. is faithful also in much
W. +. Lyon, Youngstown, Ohio.